How to unsieze 1960 engine

[60eldo]

  I have a 60 engine thats siezed with trany on it. Been pouring deisil in each cyl for 2 weeks and nothing. Any suggestions,,,HELP

[kkarrer]

Diesel might help, but it's pretty thin.  I've had some luck with Marvel Mystery Oil and transmission fluid in the past, but there's a product called PB Blaster that might help as well.  What ever you do with this engine you'll most certainly want to drop the oil pan (can be done without removing the engine) and pull the heads.  That will give you a lot more of an idea as to what's going on and it will allow you to tap with a wooden or plastic mallet on the top center of the pistons.  You'll also be able to see if water (heavy rust) is the culprit or if the engine was run with no oil and seized up.  You didn't say how you're trying to turn the engine over, but if you remove the fan it will be easy to attach a socket and a breaker bar to the crank bolt and try rocking it back and forth.  Those are good engines, but there are plenty of them around.
Good luck!
Ken Karrer
CenTex Reg. Dir.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

I can't remember if you can get to the flywheel underneath the car but, that's also a good way to rock the motor back and forth.

Get a pry bar into those teeth and try to move it back and forth.....you can get alot more torque by using the flywheel.

Try a mixture of ATF fluid & acetone....that seem to work pretty good also.....but get a rain coat on when the motor starts to turn and your under the car at the flywheel.

Good Luck......Mike

[76eldo]

You can’t get to the flywheel easily because of the way it’s recessed into the bell housing. You really need to pull the heads. I bought a 60 Seville a few years ago and the engine was hopelessly locked up. It sat for too long. I tried pouring all sorts of oils and penetrating fluids into the spark plug openings but nothing worked. Once I pulled the heada I saw a lot of rust and corrosion in the cylinders. I pulled the engine and trans as a unit because it’s very difficult to separate the engine and the trans if you can not rotate the engine.

I was lucky and found a complete engine and trans from another 60 Seville with under 30,000 miles on it and that’s currently bolted into my Seville right now.

Figure on at least pulling g the heads to see what’s going on inside.

Brian

[Fitzmeister]

I was able to free up a 500 after filling the cylinders with a 50/50 mix of fuel oil and ATF, butvi let it soak in for a long time (months).

[60eldo]

    The engine and trans are out of the car sitting on a rim against a wall. You are right I cant get the trany off. Maybe I should take the heads off and see whats going on. Two of the cylinders that I filled with deasil are still full, while the others keep going empty. Not sure what that means, maybe they are the culprits.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The cylinders that are not draining will definitely be the cause of the seizure.

You might have to drop the sump and remove the offending pistons' connecting rod caps and with a heavy solid rod, say 3/4" in diameter, place one end up against the underside of the piston crown and with a sledge hammer, start "tapping" the piston out.   That is, after you have removed the cylinder head/s.

Bruce.

[INTMD8]

You can’t get to the flywheel easily because of the way it’s recessed into the bell housing. You really need to pull the heads. I bought a 60 Seville a few years ago and the engine was hopelessly locked up. It sat for too long. I tried pouring all sorts of oils and penetrating fluids into the spark plug openings but nothing worked. Once I pulled the heada I saw a lot of rust and corrosion in the cylinders. I pulled the engine and trans as a unit because it’s very difficult to separate the engine and the trans if you can not rotate the engine.

Agreed, I had to do exactly that with my 59.  Nooooo way it was breaking loose with the heads and trans on.

[Art Gardner CLC 23021]

    The engine and trans are out of the car sitting on a rim against a wall. You are right I cant get the trany off. Maybe I should take the heads off and see whats going on. Two of the cylinders that I filled with deasil are still full, while the others keep going empty. Not sure what that means, maybe they are the culprits.

With the engine out and sitting on a wheel, this job is made a little easier.  First of all, recognize that what has probably happened is that the piston rings (not the pistons) have rusted in place against the cylinder walls.  So we need to break that rust loose.  Use a rust penetrant in liquid form (spray form if you have to).  Keep the cylinders wet with the rust penetrant (like WD-40).  For a while, keep the heads on and try to break it free.  Eventually, you might need to take the heads off to try to get the rust penetrant all around the pistons.  Keep at it and be patient.  Spray the cylinders a little bit every day for weeks on end.  It took years to rust solid.  Give the rust penetrant time to work.  Plenty of time.  Eventually it will probably break free.  Probably.

[TJ Hopland]

I once helped a guy with a similar situation.   What we ended up doing was driving the locating pins out between the engine and transmission so we could lift the crank and trans up together.   We had one rod bolt we could not access that had to be torched out so it still wasn't an easy process.    The block was so badly damaged that if it was to be used again it would need a couple sleeves but at least it was all apart and parts were a lot more useful (and easier to move around) than a sized assembly.   

[David King (kz78hy)]

I had the same problem when I tried to get the engine & trans separated from my Brougham.

Pistons 7 & 8 had been stuck for many years.  I had to remove the connecting rod caps and then start pulling the pistons I could get at, and then start rotating the crank to get at more.  It took some time to do.  Pistons 7&8 were beat out using a pipe and small 3 pound hammer.  This was over 10 years ago now, so my memory is not clear, but it was a chore.

Also, very important, when you separate, there is a ground disc in-between the crank and the trans.  DO NOT LOOSE this part.  For some reason, this part gets misplaced and becomes lost and forgotten.

David

[60eldo]

  Thanks Dave for the pics. Soon I will start this process, looks like alot of time and patience,,,,which I dont have,,,,,, LOL

[txturbo]

This is how I do it. Remove spark plugs and pour some marvel mystery oil in each cylinder and warm it up. Works better if you remove the oil pan.

[35-709]

   Love it!

[76eldo]

When these engines lock up there is now amount of any solvent that will allow it to break free. You need to take the heads off and see how bad the rust is.
You have a small shot at tapping on the tops of the pistons with a block of wood and a hammer after soaking the upper parts of the pistons and rings that never get wet when you pour in stuff through the spark plug holes.

If you can at least get the tranny off you can then get the engine on an engine stand to do more work to it.

Brian

[Big Fins]

Looks like Dan was working on a mid 50's double rocker hemi.

[chrisntam]

Honey, I'm going to light the grille. 

What are we having? 

Hemi.

 

[txturbo]

Looks like Dan was working on a mid 50's double rocker hemi.

56 330 desoto hemi that had been locked up for at least 10 years. Also freed up a motor in a 30 model as that had been stuck since the 80s. Got it running and turned out to be a good running motor. So.....I don’t agree that the only option is to pull it apart....unless it locked up due to mechanical failure.

[76eldo]

The addition of heat would make a difference.
I didn’t really see a safe way to try this in my garage.
If you have a stick engine it’s always best to pull the heads or at least unbolt the valve train to avoid ruining the cam or bending pushrods because valves get stuck too.

Shortcuts usually create big problems.

[txturbo]

Marvel mystery oil always works better on a warm engine. You can tell when you start turning it if there is a stuck valve. If you get resistance stop and go the other way. I keep doing that and have never bent anything.